Author Archive for jsorenson

Orientations are free of charge and are open to anyone interested in learning more about Mindfulness Training, or as a first step to enrolling in a class. Attending an orientation is required for all participants prior to registration.

At the orientation you’ll learn more about mindfulness and the MBSR class, meet the course instructor and have time to ask any questions you may have.

The thinking mind is a funny thing – agile, adaptive and inquisitive by nature – genius at solving problems, planning and moving us toward goals and aspirations. This same mind, on a moment’s notice, can take us back in time to cherish a memory, ruminate on past difficulties and then to leap ahead again in worry and anxious anticipation.

We humans truly are time travelers – and if you pause to consider your own experience, it may not surprise you to learn that recent research confirms the mind’s tendency to roam. It turns out that the human mind is a wandering mind. If what’s happening right now isn’t compelling, the mind will predictably meander into the past, fly to the future or sink into commentary about what has been, what is and whatever might come. The results of one very large study (see below) showed that across gender, age, income and culture, human minds tend to wander away from the present moment nearly 50% of the time.

The same research suggests what we may already suspect: That a “wandering mind is an unhappy mind” and greater wellbeing is associated with spending more time right here, in the present moment. Exercising the mental capacity for presence turns out to correlate closely to increased happiness overall.

Living more in the present is a skill we can develop – and yoga is one of the most effective ways to cultivate that skill – moment by moment. Practicing presence through the doorways of sensation, breath, movement and stillness, we develop neural pathways in the brain that allow us to choose living more fully into the “here and now” instead of in the “there and then”.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training (MBSR) provides practical methods and support to go beyond simply tolerating stress. Meet life’s challenges with more equanimity, ease and peace of mind. This 8-week course follows the curriculum developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness ~Learn more

*Please note: MBSR is an educational program. It is not psychotherapy. It does not constitute psychological or medical care, and is not a substitute for mental health, medical, or substance abuse treatment

Strength…it can feel like a loaded word. Often confused with concepts like power, ability or worth, strength is sometimes reduced to simplistic images of physical brawn or martial force. But real strength is more subtle and much more complex.

Strength comes in all shapes and sizes– in all ages and levels of ability…the strongest among us are often strong in ways that go unnoticed and unappreciated – in showing up or hunkering down, in finding the reserves to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Strength lives in patience, in persistence, in quiet moments of resolve. It is the tensile quality of determination, of speaking truth, of owning up, of looking in or reaching across a divide to offer comfort, forgiveness, or reconciliation. Strength can look as fine as a filament of spider’s web, able to bear many times it’s own weight. It is everywhere around us if we pause to notice, and it’s a powerful practice to look into the everyday eyes of the strength that lives inside, and alongside us each day.

In the body, we experience strengththrough the ability of muscle tissue to contract, to move inward, becoming dense with potential for releasing energy outward- in a slow, sustained way, or in a burst, as you jump over a puddle or run for the bus.

You can connect with the sensation of strengthby tuning-in whenever you exert muscular effort — walking up the stairs, taking out the garbage, picking up a child or a sack of groceries. Strength is described in Nia™as “the sensation of energy packing-in toward the bones”. Exploring strength-as-sensation, in your own body’s way, can put you in touch with all the ways you already create support, sustain yourself and others and grow.

Playing with thesensation of strengthis available throughout our lives. Best of all, when we cultivate an awareness of strength in the body, it can lead us to connect more fully with that most enduring strength that lies in the heart.

**New Class update!Awake to the Heart of Equanimity.…Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balancestarts March 3. Learn more here.

The content on this website is for informational purposes, and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It is not a substitute for psychological or medical care.

Mobility—it’s everywhere. Think rolling waves and rivers running…vascular systems and deep ocean currents…cells dividing and synapses firing…your own breath moving in and moving out…particles and waves in constant motion around and within each one of us… moment by moment by moment.

Tuning-into the sensation of mobility can be a moving meditation in gratitude for all the small ways we experience “dynamic ease” each and every day. Walking, dancing, knitting, biking, typing, stirring, writing…flow…As a metaphor it suggests fluidity; the ability to roll with the moment, to explore, to move into new spaces…to be versatile, adaptable, capable of change… all qualities that help us stay buoyant in rough waters and keep the doldrums from becoming dull.

Mobility is related to movement in flow—fluid, and above all, sustainable… not too much and not too little. Circulating and stimulating…energy moving outward (flexibility) and energy moving inward (strength) through any and all planes and directions. Mobility lives in the joints—in the fluid cushions and spaces between the bones. Mobility plays with momentum, and it can feel like pure joy. Nia Technique™describes mobility as “the sensation of energy in constant motion” — and that “constant” part of the equation means mobility depends on balance to sustain.

Finding the sweet spot of sustainable movement is all about awareness: Awareness of energy-in and energy-out, attending to what’s “leaky”, inefficient, or blocked – We can expand the capacity for mobility by extending fully while respecting limits, breathing gratitude into what is possible today, and keeping it light enough to play.

Cultivating that sweet spotfeels like a very good focus and intent for the New Year. 2013 brought unanticipated beginnings, the deep, deep stretch of transition and truths born of heart-full endings – So I’m thinking a lot about movement and change these days–how sensing mobility here and now might support growing into new spaces, relationships and practice…and I’m feeling ready to move!

I’m looking to reducing the grit in the gears…refine the flow of energy…keep friction to a minimum and feel more space between my bones. Connecting-in and connecting-out …in motion.

I hope you’ll join me!

Learn more about Centerpoint Network ~ Mindfulness Programs, Nia Technique™ and Resources for Mindful Living

The content on this website is for educational purposes and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It does not constitute, nor is it a substitute for, psychological or medical treatment. Always consult a physician before engaging in any exercise program.

*Nia Technique™ was developed by Debbie Rosas Stewart and Carlos AyaRosas. Nia™, and all related “Nia” trademarks and service marks are owned by NiaTechnique, Inc., and are used here under a limited license.

Whether by happenstance or design, the invitation to explore agility is all around us. Just walk down a crowded street and begin noticing all the ways agility comes into play.

At some point, for most of us, life will extend the invitation to engage agility in the form of unexpected circumstances or reversals…even pleasant surprises can take us by surprise. Agility is indispensible…it lives inside our muscles and neurons and we can develop it—expand it—and if we choose—keep it alive each day.

Agility is a symphony of coordination.Anticipating change and shifting direction rapidly and safely requires an integrated system with no weak-links in the chain. Agility engages vision, proprioception and the qualities of strength,flexibility, balanceand coordination.Stability in the base and a connection to the core of the body are essential. Alert readiness, centered awareness and moving from a place of “Dynamic Ease” bring all the elements together.

Agility embodies movement and stillness: Movement in all directions, on a variety of levels and planes, and in 360 degrees, stopping and starting, moving from one to the other seamlessly. It is the ability to rapidly respond to change in a way that strengthens the whole mind/body system, rather than depleting it. Developing agility makes us more resilient and able to adapt to change of all kinds. Cultivating agility is defiinitely worth the effort.

So, what does agility feel like?Nia™ describes agility as: “The sensation of stopping and starting…of changing directions…shifting dynamic tension.” I think of the way it feels to make a quick grab for a falling object and to catch it before it hits the floor. It could be the sensation of jumping a puddle, sidestepping a pothole or any other unexpected adjustment in movement in a way that feels supported and balanced. Agility has spring, it has bounce-back, it is moving on and off center through space…always in connection.

Routine erodes agility. Humans seem to be hard-wired for habit. It’s not a bad thing, except that it isn’t always a great thing either. From the standpoint of evolution, habits and routines conserve energy and resources, and evolution loves that. But the deep groove of habit definitely has a double-edge. Habits are not so good for developing abilities like agility, flexibility, balance and strength, which are also critical for survival… in the wild and at the office.

Agility is all about potential-to-act. We develop that potential by stepping outside of the familiar routine–in movement and in life. It is about living in the creative tension between challenging ourselves to expand in unpredictable ways, and the magnetic pull of the well-worn path. Mindfulness is an antidote to unconscious habit…awareness opens the door to choice.

Connect with the sensation of agility in your body, to cultivate this quality in other areas of your life. Play with being especially mindful of agility in your day to day activity–even around the house. Agility works on the micro as well as the macro level– it’s good to start small. Starting small keeps us connected to our center ~ connected to the heart. Making even minor adjustments can change the course of our personal history. Look for the opportunities to break up a routine, challenge an old habit, take a new route. It can be as simple as recognizing the need to pause and take a breath before speaking, stepping-up or stepping-in to lend a hand, taking time to express gratitude, crossing any threshold mindfully…this is agility-in-action.

The content in this blog is for informational purposes, and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It is not a substitute for psychological or medical care.

Nia Technique is the work of Debbie Rosas Stewart and Carlos AyaRosas. Nia™, the Nia™ Logo, and all related “Nia” trademarks and service marks are owned by NiaTechnique, Inc., and are used here only under a limited license.

A well-timed stretch feels delicious! It’s the body’s natural remedy and reset button when we’ve been static or tense for too long. Watch any cat or dog on waking and the first thing you’ll see is, forepaws out, belly to the earth, and a gentle shift of the hindquarters extending all four limbs. It may be one of the first sensations you experience in the morning – stretching arms and legs inside warm covers. It may be something you do without thinking throughout the day.

What is flexibility in physical terms?

Simply put, flexibility is about range of motion–specifically, the range of motion around any joint. Range of motion is determined by many factors: The construction of the joint itself (this depends on the type of joint and also varies between individuals) elasticity of the muscles, condition of the fascia or connective tissue, as well as age, injury, and illness. Flexibility is the dynamic relationship between muscles, tendons, bones and ligaments; the relationship between structure, connection and movement.

The mechanics of flexibility reveal a beautifully balanced system of give and take–a delicate opposition designed to maximize range while maintaining form and function.

Flexibility requires extension and contraction, relaxation and engagement. Stretching activates specialized structures inside the muscle fibers that inhibit, to some extent, the reflex to pull back, allowing us to relax into the extension more deeply. At the same time, other structures signal when we approach the limits of safe movement.

Physical flexibility is developed by moving the joints– by opening, extending and closing; and by engaging the muscles to spiral gently outward along the bones. Flexibility depends on a balance of stability and mobility, moving in ways that are fully supported. We increase flexibility by consistently extending toward our limits and exploring the edge without pushing past it. This requires care and attention.

Muscles are designed to stretch; ligaments and tendons…not so much. Stretching too far endangers the stability of the joint, but without enough movement we become rigid and stiff, with a limited range of response. We need both impulses, the desire to extend as well as the wisdom to stay. With time, care and practice- honoring both- the body can develop an astonishingly degree of flexibility.

Sensing the Language of Flexibility

If “sensation is the language of the body“, then the voice of flexibility feels like expansion and elasticity– moving away from the core and returning again energized. Nia ™ describes flexibility as “the sensation of energy moving outward” of “muscles extending along the bones” in a way that feels pleasurable. Flexibility is felt in the body as a balanced state of “Dynamic Ease.”

Sensing flexibility, however, is not necessarily about being limber. This is an important distinction. Sensory awareness is about attention and perception. The point here is not what the movement looks like on the outside as much as what it feels like on the inside. Fluency in this language is gained by learning to stay connected to that awareness moment to moment.

If this sounds a lot like mindfulness practice, you’re right. Bringing attention to a specific quality of sensation is one way to step fully into the present.

Like mindfulness, developing flexibility requires consistency. It won’t be there when we need it, in mind or body, if we don’t engage with it more days than not. Practicing in ways that feel good, increase a sense of joy, playfulness, and purpose, helps to innoculate us against the stress of those times when we need to test our limits in the face of challenge or loss.

This month I invite you to join me in exploring the sensation of flexibility, in all its forms.

We can begin by bringing attention to that quality wherever we encounter it… In nature and in the city, in ourselves and our relationships. In the beautiful collaboration of forces that allows trees to bend, bridges to sway, grass to spring back from under foot– that quality that let’s our fingers reach a little higher, our hearts open a little wider. Let’s stay awake to the many ways we experience the quality of expanding and returning, extending ourselves to discover our own version of full-bodied flexibility.

The content on this website is for educational purposes and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It does not constitute, nor is it a substitute for, psychological or medical treatment. Always consult a physician before engaging in any exercise program.

Nia Technique™ was developed by Debbie Rosas Stewart and Carlos AyaRosas. Nia™, and all related “Nia” trademarks and service marks are owned by NiaTechnique, Inc., and are used here under a limited license.

Fall still feels like the beginning of the year to me. It probably always will.

It goes all the way back to new pencils, squeaky shoes and the smell of floor polish mixed with autumn leaves — September is suffused with the juice of new beginnings, possibility, and growth.

Rising early these past weeks, I’ve been pondering my focus and intent for fall. This phrase keeps surfacing“Tension masks sensation, and sensation is the language of the body”.

Several years ago when I first read that quote by Nancy Stark Smith, it stopped me in my tracks: “Sensation is the language of the body.” It seemed to me a perfectly simple yet perfectly comprehensive metaphor ~ the essence of living an embodied life.

“That’s a conversation I want to be part of” I thought. “I want to get fluentin that language.”

It’s an idea that still intrigues me no end.

We spend so much time engaged mentally with the language of words. In practical terms, our language is inseparable from the thoughts that shape us. Our words are more powerful than we know.

Language is fluid and alive. We connect-in and we connect-out through the words we choose and use.

So, what about the “language of sensation”?

Like speech, sensation communicates. Sensation connects. The mechanisms for generating and perceiving sensation are amazing. They are as complex, nuanced, and adaptable as any grammar. Proprioception, neural maps, joint receptors, muscle spindles, nerve fibers and intricate feedback loops make up the syntax of sensation.

This orderly arrangement of impulses and processes gives us a physical “sense of self”and, by extension, allows us to experience being-in-relationship ~ to our physical bodies, to each other and to the rest of the world.

As with any language, as we gain fluency we perceive more subtlety and meaning. Developing sensory awareness opens the door to an ever wider range of expression and connection.

Sensation, Awareness and Mindfulness

Awareness of sensation is at the heart of cultivating mindfulness. This is true for formal meditation practice and for being more mindful in general. It is one important key to moving mindfully through the day.

Having a conscious movement practice can be a beautiful way to explore the language of sensation. For me, this type of practice is a very direct path to personal healing, insight and a way of connecting to the joy of movement itself ~ of being-in-motion.

In practicing and teaching Nia™ we often focus on five key sensations of Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength and Stability (FAMSS). Learning to recognize and nurture our connection to these qualities as sensation then becomes a path to embodying them as qualities for life.

For example, how might we develop a more flexible attitude or approach on the job, in our relationships, with ourselves? How can we engage a sense of mobility or agility to skillfully juggle schedules and competing demands? Where do we recognize our strength and stability in challenging times?

As metaphors for skillful living, we could do a lot worse.

So, for the next five months, I invite you to consider with me each of these fundamental qualities: Flexability, Agility, Mobility, Strength and Stability. I invite us to play with the language of sensation, and in the process to explore the many other ways we might cultivate these qualities ~ in movement and stillness, in practice and in daily life.

The content on this website is for informational purposes, and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. The materials and services provided do not constitute psychological or medical care, and are not a substitute for psychotherapy, medical, or substance abuse treatment

Up-hills, up mountains, up trees, up water towers…you name it. Whenever we travel and come to a new landscape, his eyes immediately move toward the horizon and up to the top of whatever land mass may be present. I see him charting a course, finding the way up and around and through in his mind’s eye…his state of play has begun.

I think he enjoys the top, but for him—it’s about the climb—each footfall making contact—his private conversation with the mountain– full engagement is not without effort.

For some, the way up is the way of bliss.

Bob has a friend, an ultra-long distance runner who habitually refers to crazy-steep inclines not as hills or mountains, but as “viewpoints.” I have to wonder how that changes the experience of getting to the top—“Wow! Great Viewpoint—Let’s go!”

Viewpoints and points of view…on play.

Challenge-as-Play / Play-as-Challenge

As the book “Play” draws to a close authors Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughn consider challenge as a necessary part of real play. Navigating barriers, overcoming obstacles and finding the way through is where the fun lives. We crave challenge and novelty—without it, play isn’t playful. We need to stretch!

This is true of any kind of play, physical or otherwise, when it gets too easy or too comfortable, smooth sailing leads pretty quickly to boredom.

It’s a kind of evolutionary push/pull with the brain and body. On the one hand we are hard-wired to conserve energy, value comfort, and settle-settle-settle-down into a cozy rut when we can get one.

But what we really need is just the right amount of “steep climb,” literally and figuratively, to fuel the feeling of fun.

Passive, floating in the pool, is best as a garnish; a splash of color and texture to offset the more satisfying meal of full-on play.

When that main course is just difficult enough, we get to explore our edge in a way that feels great.

“You have to make it through the discomfort to find the fun” says Brown, “In the end, the good feelings we are left with…are far greater than any difficulty we encountered as we played.”

Challenging play is practice for life. Ideally the distinction between play and everything else gets less clear. If we learn to seek out challenge in play as essential to the fun, we can build resilience for meeting day to day stressors. Then, next time we have to run for a bus, make an impossibly tight schedule, or finesse our way through a crowd, we might find some room to play there too – with all seriousness and determination- and with the space to come out on the other side smiling.

Inviting Play

Here are a few of the authors’ closing suggestions for bringing play back into our lives, no matter what our age or circumstance:

Take your play history: Reflect on your own best experiences of play. Re-connect to the feelings, emotions and perhaps with the actual activities that have engaged, renewed and delighted you throughout your life.

Expose yourself to play: Opportunities abound…you may be amazed at the numerous ways you can bring playful moments into your day once you pay attention to it.

Give yourself permission to be playful, to be a beginner: Cultivate curiosity, a sense of exploration and willingness to step into play.

Fun is your North Star, but you don’t always have to head north: Start with what feels fun—it’s a reliable guide—and also remember that, “…the really transforming acts of play aren’t purely fun”. Embrace challenge as essential to the satisfaction of play.

Get active: One of the most direct routes to play is movement. We are built to move- it stimulates us at every level and the need for physical activity doesn’t diminish with age.

Nourish your mode of play and be with people who nourish it, too: Practice play. Take the time to connect with your style of play, and create space for it intentionally. Think of play as nourishment – and enjoy!

The content in this blog is for informational purposes, and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It is not a substitute for psychotherpy or medical care.

About three weeks ago, on a beautiful warm evening in Portland, I bent down to unlock my bike and felt something go snap in my back just below my rib cage—pain melted down the right side of my spine and into my hip…”Oh great!”

It had been a long time since I’d felt that sensation, but I knew it well enough … I got a sinking feeling I wasn’t going to be moving around much for awhile.

“What does this have to do with play” you ask?

Fair question. I’ll circle back around…

Up until that evening, I’d been feeling pretty excited about rediscovering play. I was getting into the swing of it. Reading about the connection between movement and play, and recognizing that connection in the joy that kept me coming back whenever I moved-danced-ran…it was all making a lot of sense.

The research is clear supporting the links between physical activity and learning, movement and improved cognitive functioning. Movement, play and creativity are related, and movement can be a “first step back into play” for adults who have lost that connection.

I was getting ready to write more about this—and was trying out some new activities myself–recalling the kinds of play that connected me to a sense of energy and creativity when I was young…

…and then, I bent over to unlock my bike. Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling so playful.

But I did keep reading, and I’m glad I did. When I came to the part where Brown talks about a natural tension that exists in play, the tension between freedom and limits, this is what jumped out at me:

“Play is a practice of balancing simultaneous and opposing needs.”

Wow. Yes…it is.

Play lives inside limits.

Any kind of play– games, sports, dancing, theater, imagination— it all becomes play, in part, because there are limits.

“The license to play comes from the safety of structure.”

If the limits aren’t inherent in the situation, then we create them, we impose them, and willingly. We call those limits “the rules of the game,” and by submitting ourselves happily to them, we create dynamic tension, useable friction, something to engage with creatively to increase our skill, acuity, awareness or strength.

Simultaneous and opposing needs.

That seemed to sum up my situation pretty well. Of course I wouldn’t typically think of something like a pulled muscle as an “agreed upon rule of the game” but then, why not? Was it that big a leap?

Circling back now…

Just about this time, I was slated to fill-in teaching for a colleague’s Nia classes, and my back? Well, not wanting to move so much.

What to do?

To my surprise, I didn’t really try to figure it out.

I put on some music and started moving…very slooooowly…just carefully exploring what I really could and couldn’t do; sensing the actual limits in time and space and in my body.

As I adapted and tweaked the movement, changed things where needed, I began to find my way to a middle-ground of space inside these new confines… Found ways of communicating the movement that aligned with what my body felt it could do.

Sweet!

The next day, in class, we talked about finding a sense of play inside our limits, whatever they may be, physical or otherwise. We took that hour to explore freedom inside the boundaries~ space inside constraints.

And the thing is—that space felt BIG — way bigger than I expected.

For that hour I said “yes” to my limits like I meant it. And this whole back injury started to feel a lot less like limitation and a lot more like play.

It was a blast.

*Have you missed any of the previous Book Club posts? Here are the links:

The content in this blog is for informational purposes, and does not constitute professional advice or treatment for any individual concern or condition. It is not a substitute for psychological or medical care.